Looking Glass Logic
by xoloveJBox
Summary: When a new CSI arrives on the team, she is definitely not what everyone expected... Ok, that summary really sucks and I apologize : Give it a go though, it might not be so bad :
1. Prologue

_**A/N: Hey!**_

_**Ok, so this is my first CSI: NY fanfiction so please bare with me haha :) I've had this idea for a while now, but it's taken me so long to find the right way to get it down. Hopefully, this will be good enough lol :)**_

_**I'm not really sure about whether or not to continue with this story, but if enough people show interest, I'll be happy to because, as I said, I've had this idea for a very long time, and I don't think it's going to go away until I do something with it haha :D**_

_**Drop me a review and let me know what everyone thinks! I know a lot of writers don't like to hear criticism about their work, but I'm not one of them. I'd much rather read honest comments than ones that aren't necessarily true :D  
Disclaimer: If I owned CSI:NY, it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is now ^-^**_

_**Thanks in advance!**_

_**xoloveJBox**_

* * *

She could hear her heart beating loudly in her chest; the cool metal of the gun felt strangely comforting in her hand. Her senses were hyper alert, and every tiny sound was like grenades in her ears. She used a shaky finger to push her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose, cursing herself for not thinking to stock up on contact lenses.  
Somewhere deep in the building, she could hear the others: Mac's voice boomed out orders to the other detective, but she was all alone. She hated to admit it, but she was scared. She had never been in a situation as real as this one, and adrenaline rushed around her body at deafening volumes. She tried to keep herself calm, but she was failing miserably. She prayed that one of her colleagues would stumble upon her soon, so that she would not be alone. Then she cursed herself again. Man up! She thought, toughen up and deal with it, because this is exactly what you signed up for. She had never regretted her choices, not even now, when she couldn't recall a time where she was more terrified. Well, she could, but thinking that night didn't exactly help matters very much, so she pushed the memory from her mind.

As she moved, she tried to remember everything she had been taught; she kept her gun poised as she went along, close to the wall and constantly looking for anything that may pose a threat to her. It was dark, and her eyes seemed to have trouble adjusting. She squinted, trying to see as much as she could of her surroundings. She began to shiver, but she knew it was just a result of different chemicals travelling through her body. She had always been comforted by facts, ever since she was a small child on her father's lap, so she began reciting the periodic table in her mind. She tried to remember how she had been roped into this case at her new job at the New York crime lab.  
It didn't seem like two minutes had passed since she was at home with her parents, her younger sister and her older brothers. A minute maybe since she'd held her nephew on her lap. She knew this wasn't normal, that it was absurd to think that there was anything ordinary about what she was doing, but she had made a choice, one that she had always dreamed of making, and one she would make a million times again.  
Her head jerked when she heard Mac's voice again, closer this time. She breathed a small sign of relief. But the elated feeling was short lived when she heard another sound directly to her left: she knew it wasn't Mac or anyone else she could trust this time.  
"NYPD." she called into the darkness, though she had no idea who she was yelling to. Her voice trembled only slightly, making her sound a lot braver than she felt.  
"Come out with your hands above your head," she demanded, though she got no response. She started to move in the direction of the noise, but a sound a little further along startled her.  
She looked around and saw a long, dark figure dashing away hurriedly, and she took off after it. Even from the distance between them, she could tell that it was the guy they were after. He had the same gangly body and quick body that had allowed him to escaped incarceration so many times before.  
"Stop!" she screamed, hoping to attract the attention of Mac and the others in the process.

She halted, realising that the man was nowhere in sight again. Her eyes darted around nervously, aware of her vulnerability, despite the weapon in her hand. Her eyes darted around nervously, her heat thudding violently against her rib cage as she fought to keep herself calm and focused. She distracted herself by asking her mind of Mac had ever had these feelings? If Danny had ever felt the same clammy sweat inching down his back? If Don had ever heard his own heart beat in his ears so loudly that it drowned out everything else? Had Lindsay ever felt so terrified that she wanted to crawl onto her father lap like a child and cry? Had Stella ever wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole just so that she would be away and safe?

Cruel, chilling laughter distracted her from her mental interrogation, and her head snapped around to the direction of the low cackle. When she looked, all she could see piercing through the darkness was a wide, wry and cunning smile, together with eyes too big and bright to be normal. It was unnerving to her, to see just a smiling face in the blackness, like the Cheshire cat. Before she regained control of herself again and had time to react, the face disappeared. For an instant, she began to believe that she had imagined it, and she started to turn away to continue looking for their fugitive. However, she suddenly found herself tackled to the floor by a huge, heavy body that was completely solid. Pain blotted her vision, the world fading further and further away as it started to tumble in on itself.


	2. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Howdy :)_**

**_Ok, so I really really intended to get this chapter up quite soon after the prologue so that it would make more sense, but then I was attacked with writer's block and quite frankly, it sucked. But it's here now, so yeah... :)_**

**_Secondly:  
DancesWithWolves10: Thank you so much for your review! After looking at it again, I could definitely see what you were saying. It was a huge chunk of writing, and so I've tried to change the way it was set out :) Hopefully it will be easier to read now :D Also, this chapter should be better because there is dialogue to split everything up._**

**_Disclaimer: I can pretend that I own CSI:NY, but it will never happen :) I own nothing you recognise!_**

**_Please please PLEASE leave me a quick review. It doesn't have to be oozing in detail, just enough to let me know what you think. I've found with other stories that I've written and posted on here, that the reviews tend to motivate me a lot, and they definitely helped me to improve my writing!_**

**_Babble over: please enjoy!_**

**_xoloveJBox_**

* * *

**_Chapter One_**

_Looking Glass Logic: Being or involving the opposite of what is normal or expected_

Mac Taylor sat at his desk feeling, once again, exhausted. He vaguely remembered the idea of sleeping, like a distant childhood memory, teetering on the thin line between dream and reality. No, he thought, it must be reality.  
You need to sleep to dream.  
It was early march, and the sun was just beginning to shine again on New York City. While a feeble beam of it shot through Mac's open window, bringing a cool, pleasant breeze with it, Mac pressed his thumbs into over-tired eyes. He was waiting for a new CSI, and honestly, she couldn't be coming at a better time. It was almost as if all the criminals had burrowed into hibernation during winter, but now that the city was beginning to thaw, so was all the unlawful behaviour.  
Mac had been told very little about his new CSI, but apparently, Miss Lori-Anne Swann was exceptional. However, he'd never been in a situation before where he hadn't been given the chance to see this for himself, and Mac wasn't sure how to look at this. What was about Detective Swann that made her so different from everyone else who had ever been hired to work for the New York crime lab?  
Mac pushed the thoughts from his mind. He was tired and over-worked, and he was sure that he was just being irrational. Deciding that he had indulged himself in procrastination for long enough, Mac set to work, tackling the towering pile of paper work that he had almost shamefully allowed to build up over the past few weeks.

He quickly settled into a steady rhythm of work, and before he realised, almost an hour had passed. A soft knock on his office door made him jump slightly, bringing him abruptly from his thoughts and back to the real, present world. He looked up, seeing a young girl through the glass door. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, Mac beckoned her inside, wondering who the child could be.

_Child _was a slight understatement. Looking at her, Mac guessed that she was no more than fifteen or sixteen, though the way she held her thin, tall frame made he seem a little older. Her long, thick brown hair tumbled in loose curls over her shoulders, and dark-rimmed square glasses framed deep, china blue eyes.

"Umm...I'm looking for Detective Mac Taylor?" she said gingerly, her voice quiet and soft, as she hugged folders and files to her chest nervously.

Mac momentarily searched through his mental memory, looking for any setting for the girl. She knew his name, but he was fairly certain he didn't know hers. She didn't look familiar at all, and her presence puzzled him. She hadn't been escorted by security as far as he'd seen, so she was supposed to be there, but why?

Seeing no other way to handle the situation in front of him, Mac stood up and held his arms out slightly to the side.

"Well, you found him." He said, smiling "How can I help you?"

The girl looked relieved as she twiddled with a lock of hair and pushed it anxiously behind her ear.

"I'm Lori Swann." She introduced herself, her shyness almost seemed painful on her face. Mac had to consciously not let his jaw slacken. That had to be wrong.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" he requested, certain that he had misheard.

"My name's Lori-Anne Swann." The girl repeated, a little louder, unsure whether he had actually needed her to increase or volume.

Mac sat back down, trying to piece everything together in his mind. Was this some kind of joke? Maybe Danny had paid the child to trick him. He looked at her, scrutinizing her features for some tiny sign of deception, but found none.

What was going on?  
"How old are you?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm sixteen Sir." Lori replied politely, making Mac more bewildered than he previously had been.

"For how long?"

"About two months. My birthday's the end of January." Lori explained, discomfort ebbing from every pore on her body.

"Well, when did you graduate high school?" Mac was finding it harder and harder to get his head around what he was being told.

"When I was twelve." Lori answered, wondering what she could do to make it easier to understand. She could see why the man in front of her would be sceptical. It wasn't exactly a normal situation.

"You were twelve?" Mac stammered, seeing her nod. "What about college?"  
"I went to NYU, and graduated from there when I was 14. I studied criminology, psychology, forensics and biology, Sir." Lori saw Detective Taylor look increasingly confused at what she was saying, but her nerves got the better of her as she began to babble. Mentally chastising herself, she stopped, waiting for a reaction.

"That's impressive." Mac breathed lowly, not thinking of any other response to give. Lori smiled sheepishly in thanks and started to inspect her feet. She could feel the man's gaze on her, so she didn't look up, instead pretending to be interested in the carpet under her shuffling, restless feet.

"Are those for me?" Mac asked, and Lori darted her head up, seeing that he was referring to the papers in her arms. She nodded and hurried forward; handing over the reports she had been told to give to Detective Taylor about herself. As she passed them over the desk, she saw her fingers trembling, and she stepped back again, suddenly feeling vulnerable now that she didn't have anything to hide behind. She waited patiently while he looked over the papers and reports, hoping that he wasn't disappointed with what he read.

Mac was impressed. So much so that he wasn't sure how to react to it. Lori had graduated top of her class at the police academy. Her scores were amazing; better, in fact, than he'd ever seen before. Mac was pretty sure Danny hadn't even achieved so highly, and he was considered phenomenal by a lot of high ranking officers.

Mac didn't have to read very much to know what the next step was for him.

"Why don't you come with me Miss Swann." He said, standing and moving towards the door, his arms full of the files about Lori. His head reeled, and he wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen, but he had to make sure this was all correct before he made any kind of executive decision.

Lori followed dutifully and silently through the lab, desperately trying not to stare in awe at everything she saw there. She didn't want to seem like it was the first time she had seen a lot of the extremely technical machinery that she had only read about before, thinking that it would make her look like she didn't know what she was doing. Detective Taylor led her into a large space, completely dominated by computers.

"Adam," Mac said, announcing their presence to a dark haired man in the corner who Lori hadn't even noticed at first.

"Hey Boss, I just-" Adam started before turning and spotting Lori, standing apprehensively behind Mac.

"Adam," Mac began again "This is Lori-Anne Swann."

Mac had told all of his team members that they would be receiving a new colleague, and he had given them all the information he had on her, which was pretty much only her name. Adam's eyes widened slightly as his mind flickered with recognition over the connection.

"Hi," he greeted cheerfully, trying his hardest to seem like he wasn't surprised as he stretched out his hand for her.

"Hello." Lori replied, taking it, grateful for a small distraction.

"Do you think Miss Swann could stay in here for a while, so that I can sort some things out?" Mac asked, trying to find a polite way to say it while Lori was around.

"S...Sure," Adam stammered, taken by surprise by what was going on all of a sudden.

Mac quickly thanked him and left, making his way back down the corridor to his office, preparing himself for a long phone call with Chief Sinclair. He was impressed with everything he had seen from Lori, but he had to be sure that this was the right thing. He couldn't take any risks by bringing her onto the team, but if he could be convinced that no one was in any kind of danger, bought on by Lori's age, he was more than willing to accept her as a colleague.

He just had to be sure.

* * *

_**A/N 2: I have no idea how accurate my info about Lori graduating early and all that jazz is. I'm pretty sure that in the show, it tells you that Adam graduated early (correct me if I'm wrong) and I know that it is possible. I've got no idea about how the American education system works, so if anyone wants to tell me, feel free. Let's just imagine, for the sakes of this fanfic, that it's accurate and acceptable...Well, obviously not completely acceptable, because Mac seems to have a little trouble with it, but you get the idea lol **_

_**Thanks again!**_


	3. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Howdy!  
I know it's been way too long since I updated this story, and I'm really sorry. With exams and everything, I barely had time for anything, but I'm back :D I've finished college until september now, so I hope to be able to update a little more regularly now :)_**

**_Disclaimer: I really wish I owned CSI:NY but I don't, so that sucks for me haha_**

**_I don't think there's anything else really for me to say at this point :/ The story should start to pick up soon, I promise haha :D_**

**_Please R+R and let me know what you think! I'm always open for ideas/suggestions/advice... anything really lol. So, yeah,let me know what you think!  
Lots of 3_**

**_xoloveJBox_**

* * *

_Looking Glass Logic: Being or involving the opposite of what is normal or expected_

"She's sixteen?" Danny exclaimed, shocked by what he was being told. When he looked around, he could see that everyone else was just as surprised. It wasn't very often that Mac called whole team meetings, so despite the fact that he had been enjoying his morning off; Danny had driven to the lab, because he knew it would be important. He wasn't sure what he had expecting Mac to say, but this certainly hadn't been it.

"Yes," Mac replied finally, rubbing his eyes wearily. He had spent almost two hours on the phone with Chief Sinclair before calling the rest of his team, trying to determine just what exactly was going on. Lori had been with Adam the whole time, and Mac knew that he would have to face her again soon. He didn't like not knowing what he was going to do, but the fact that he even had to think troubled him. She was sixteen. Surely he should just tell her to go home and come back when she was older.

But those scores...

"Is she any good Mac?" Stella asked, trying to piece everything together in her mind.

Mac nodded "The best I've ever seen."  
"So she must be some kind of genius child." Don observed.

"The average IQ of an American adult is around 100." Mac explained "Lori's is almost twice that."

There was a moment of silence while the new information sunk in.

"I think we should give her a chance." Lindsay said after a minute of listening to the whir of computer monitors. "I mean, Adam graduated from high school early too, right?"

"Adam graduated at sixteen, not twelve." Sheldon answered quietly.

"And Adam wasn't given a weapon at that age." Stella added.

"Can you imagine what'll happen when the public gets wind of a sixteen year old girl running around the city with a gun and a badge?" Don almost winced at his own comment.

However, he didn't need to imagine, he knew. There was only one word to describe what would happen: pandemonium.

Mac's head began to pound with thoughts and voices all giving their opinions. He knew that he couldn't leave the girl too much longer without a solid decision, but every time he thought he'd made one, another judging factor would appear in his mind and make him doubt himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had been put in such a difficult position, and he was a little worried about how hard making the choice was turning out to be. She was sixteen. There shouldn't have been a choice in the first place, but she was clearly intelligent enough, and she had graduated from the academy just the same as everyone else.

Deciding to just get it over with, and hoping that motion would help him make up his mind, Mac got up and mumbled something to the rest of the team before walking out of the room. He walked towards his office, and as he went past, he wondered into the room where Adam was entertaining Lori. Mac stood and watched for a minute when he saw that neither of them had noticed him. Lori was clearly totally engrossed in whatever it was Adam was saying to her, and Mac could tell that Adam was revelling in being the one with the experience for a change. He was usually the pupil, not the teacher, and he was obviously enjoying it. Mac could almost see Lori taking mental notes of what she was being told. He could see that she was feverishly drinking it all in and storing it away, ready for whenever the information had to be used. He had to admit, the attentive quality was another point for the pros side of the argument, a list that was rapidly growing by the minute.

Mac cleared his throat loudly to get their attention, and both Lori and Adam spun around, each of them startled as they were dragged from the fascinating world they had managed to plunge themselves into whilst waiting for Mac to return.

"Boss," Adam said, sounding slightly nervous, as he usually did around Mac, caught off-guard by his sudden appearance "I was just showing Lori some of the equipment."

"Thanks Adam," Mac replied with a small smile before turning to Lori. "Miss Swann, could you come with me."

Lori seemed surprised to finally be directed somewhere again, and she gave a quick nod before bidding goodbye to Adam and following Mac. They walked in silence to the office, and Mac shut the door before speaking.

"Please, sit down." He said with a small amount of sternness in his voice. Lori did as she was told; recognising it not as a question or offer, but a demand which she chose not to disobey. She perched herself gingerly on the edge of the seat in front of Mac's desk and waited for him to take a seat on the other side. She pretended not to notice his slightly scrutinising gaze, as if he was looking for something. She wasn't sure what, but she hoped that he found whatever it was he wanted to see.

"I'm sorry Miss Swann," Mac finally said, though he was still clearly having conflicting thoughts "I just can't take you on right now. There are too many risks involved."

"Please, Detective Taylor" Lori unintentionally blurted, a pleading tone to her voice "_This _job is all I've wanted since before I could write my own name." She explained, almost desperately "I can't even begin to tell you how important it is to me."  
"Miss Swann, I-" Mac started again, but found that he couldn't think of a way to finish the sentence.

"Give me two weeks. I'll show you how hard I'm willing to work, how quickly I can learn. If you still don't want me after that, I'll never bother you again, but please; give me a chance."

Mac looked at the young girl in front of him, searching for something in her eyes that would tell him what he was supposed to do. All he saw was pleading, and determination.

He finally sighed, standing up from his desk with a stern, serious look on his face.

"Be back here at nine in the morning, and be ready for work." He said. For a second, Lori didn't react, and then a great beaming smile erupted on her face, plastering on her cheeks as she held out her hand to Mac.

"Thank you Sir." She replied breathlessly. "You won't regret this, I promise."

Mac nodded his acknowledgement, and Lori gathered her things and went to leave the office.

"One more thing, Miss Swann." Mac called, drawing her attention and making Lori turn back again.

"Yes Sir?"  
"Don't call me 'Sir'"

Lori let out a smaller smile and left the office, a lot happier than she had been when she had entered, ready for whatever the next morning threw at her.


End file.
